Kristy King: A wasteful contribution

I think it's time that the community and our leaders take yet another hard look at our hospital and its antics.

On Wednesday, we all read in the paper how the hospital was applying for a huge DOLA grant. In this article, commissioners Tom Gray and Audrey Danner report being "happy to sign off" on the $1 million request. The grant is to be used for a new MRI machine.

The fact is that Craig already has a perfectly good, non-obsolete, "same as Steamboat Springs" MRI machine. It makes me sick to hear that they would be so flippant with that money. As a taxpayer who is paying for this new hospital to be built, I would hope that TMH and our commissioners would have better sense than to waste $1 million on a product that we already have.

If you remember three or four years ago, we had a wonderful specialist clinic called Northwest Imaging. Myself and some others worked enthusiastically to recruit doctors to come to Craig, and we did it by providing an X-ray machine, ultra sounds and an MRI machine. I am an X-ray/MRI technologist who worked full time so that our community and the insurance money could stay right here at home. It was a great, promising clinic that brought in an OB/GYN, pediatricians, dermatologist and additional orthopedic doctors.

Enter TMH.

TMH took over the building and fired a number of longtimers, myself included. Since those changes in management, that clinic sadly has been run into the ground. Instead of keeping those of us who live and want to work in Craig, they've hired traveling techs for triple the money. Most of the doctors have moved on because the conditions we worked so hard for were not maintained.

What a waste for our community.

The hospital asks us to support them, but when you peek behind the curtain, you'll see they aren't supporting us.

The fact that they have the nerve to imply that a million dollars is needed for an MRI machine is ridiculous. I'm offended that they would waste so much money. Evidently, The Memorial Hospital haven't heard of "going green."

The present MRI machine will just sit dusty, while the hospital makes you think that they are doing us all a big favor by buying this new equipment. I think if TMH wants to do us a favor, they should take that grant money and put it towards the new building we are paying for, or better yet, give it to Moffat County Youth Services, who legitimately are in need of money to help homeless children in our community.

Oh and how come the Craig Daily Press hasn't run a news story on why two of the three hospital administrators have quite or been fired in the last month? Way to go Daily Press on keep the community informed about what is going on at the hospital they are paying for. Does the Daily Press have a reason for supressing this news?

No complaints Rocky except the fact that we have an ex daily press employee get hired at the hospital and they were able to sell us all a hospital that we can't afford and before the first payment has to be made (or can't be made) they are starting to leave and the daily press hasn't done a single story on it yet. That seems kinda fishy. I have family, friends and neighbors who work at the hospital an all they do is tell me how bad things have gotten. It isn't a "one sided story" as David Moore states. My neighbor is just wonder when they will finally get rid of the CEO. And as she states it "this is great news!"

I can see the connection that people could draw between the newspaper and an ex-employee working at the hospital, but it takes a lot more than one person. Beyond that, I don't know what the paper could write about the finances beyond what they have already written. There were so many layers of financial review, that it's hard for me to believe it is fishy or a scam ... I don't believe that five or six layers of accountants had anything to gain by fudging financials if, in fact, they would end up owning a failing proposition. That remains to be seen and we'll know soon enough.

I think asking the tough questions is the right thing to do and the hospital should be accountabel for answering those. But, as far as I can tell, it doesn't matter what they say, the nay-sayers won't believe it anyway. It's a lose-lose for everyone.

I would like to think that the people working on this project are working hard ... the success of this project will determine the success of their careers in a lot of ways. And, some of those administrators - the quality officer is one - have been there for 20+ years.

"There are two sides to every story, except here in the CDP reader forum, then it is only one side."

The reality is taxpayers don't know either side. I guess we can surmise that Quorum's CFO and Controller are no longer at TMH. I believe neither were TMH employees, but per the Quorum contract with TMH were "on loan". TMH reimburses Quorum for all salaries, payroll taxes and expenses for such employees.

Not only are we in the dark about either side, we don't know why the financial heads left. If they were rat's jumping a sinking ship, that's one thing. If they were dismissed (fired) that's quite another thing. Either way the CDP is remiss in not reporting this news. The commitment to build a new hospital is the biggest event in Moffat County history, more than $105,000,000 (million) with interest. Still, the CDP has not published and interview with TMH or the disaffected employees.

I can tell you from TMH financial records that February 2009 accounts appear not to balance, it is not the first time, and the operating losses are substantial. How many of you know that TMH took cash back from the $40 million loan for the new facility. In other words, loan proceeds may be used to pay the loan payments.

I have reviewed the 2008 audit and accompanying notes. It reads more like an endorsement than an objective audit. I would bet the audit firm has a connection to Quorum.

So, here's the deal, if the two employees jumped ship, why? Did they finally realize they couldn't cover anymore? If they were fired was it because the Board and CEO didn't like the facts? Did they kill the messenger?

It appears that TMH is not a county hospital, it is a Quorum hospital. When $40 million is spent on a $27 million building there is ample money to spread around, but not in Moffat County, we only get to make the payments.

Seriously, do you really think people moving in and out of town is newsworthy? Half of that hospital has moved on over the past few years, none of them made it in the paper either. People come, people go, deal with it.
Nobody "jumped ship" and to my knowledge nobody was fired either. If they wanted you to know why they left, they would have told you, if it is just killing you to know call them up and ask them yourselves?
There are no secrets, just people moving on in their lives, one would think that moving on is a right all of us have and can do it when one pleases without a public announcement.